Victory Day’s 80th Anniversary: FEFU students to translate World War II letters into 9 languages

The Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) Institute of Asian Studies launches the Letters from the Front translation contest dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Translations can be submitted until 30 April 2025. The best works will be featured in an exhibition that is to open at FEFU on 14 May.

FEFU Bachelor and Master’s students are eligible to participate in the contest. Contestants are to translate letters that Soviet soldiers sent from the front to their loved ones. The letters can be accessed via the link. Each section includes two letters dated 1941 and 1945. Both letters from one section must be translated from Russian into a selected foreign language: French, German, Spanish, English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Thai. Submission of translations into multiple languages is also allowed.

Contestants studying German can also try themselves in translation from German to Russian. The category entails translating German soldiers’ letters about the courage and heroism of Russian people. These letters are located in a separate section. All translations are accepted up to and including 30 April 2025.

The winners and laureates will be able to present their translations at a letter reading event on 6 May. On top of that, their works will be displayed at the Great Victory Exhibition scheduled to open at FEFU Campus on 14 May.